Tumble type washer with filter



June 10,1969 J. BOCHAN 3,448,596

TUMBLE TYPE WASHER WITH FILTER Filed June 26, 1967 Sheet of 2 F'lC-IxlINVENTOR. .TOHN BOCHAN Hus ATTORNEY June 10, 19 69 J. BOCHAN 3,448,596

- TUMBIJE TYPE WASHER WITH FILTER Filed June 26, 1967 Sheet g of 2 5cINVENTOR J'OHN BOG-HAN H 15 ATTORNEY United States Patent US. C]. 68-188 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A filter is mounted on the accessdoor of a tumble type fabric washing machine. The front of the washerdrum is formed to increase agitation of the wash fluid and the innersurface of the door is formed to direct fluid to the filter.

Background of the invention Tumble type fabric washers have been knownfor many years. In such washers a perforated drum is mounted forrotation about a generally horizontal axis within a fluid receivingchamber. For operation, suflicient fluid is introduced into the chamberto form a pool in the lower portion of the chamber and drum. As the drumrotates, ribs on the inner surface of the drum pull the fabrics throughthe fluid and lift the fabrics up, out of the pool; the fabrics thenfalling back into the pool.

One problem with such washers has been the difliculty of providing asatisfactory lint filter arrangement. One approach has been to provide afilter member which rotates with the drum through the pool of fluid.Such arrangements have not filtered with complete satisfaction and havebeen very difl'lcult for the user to clean. Another approach has been toprovide a stationary filter outside the chamber and use a pump system todirect a stream of the washing fluid through the filter during machineoperations. Such arrangements, while filtering better than the rotatingfilter approach, are complicated and add substantially to the cost ofsuch machines.

Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a tumble typewasher with an improved filter arrangement.

Another object of this invention is to provide such a machine with afilter arrangement which is simple and inexpensive in construction,satisfactory in operation and easily cleaned by the user.

Summary of the invention In accordance with one embodiment of thisinvention there is provided a fabric washing machine having a washchamber adapted to contain fabric washing fluid. A perforated drum ismounted for rotation on a generally horizontal axis within the chamberand is adapted to receive fabrics to be washed. The chamber and drumhave aligned, generally vertical access openings. A door is provided andis adapted to close the openings. A filter is mounted on the door tocatch and filter fluid agitated by rotation of the drum.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view,with parts broken away and in section, showing a tumble type washingmachine incorporating one form of this invention.

FIGURE 2 is a partial side elevational view of a modified door structurefor use in the machine of FIGURE 1, the view being partly broken awayand partly in section.

FIGURE 3 is a partial end elevational view showing the inner portion ofthe door of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary end elevational view, illustrating details ofthe end wall of a drum suitable for use in the machine of FIGURE 1.

Patented June 10, 1969 "ice Description of the preferred embodimentsReferring now to FIGURE 1, there is shown therein a tumble type washingmachine 10 having an outer cabinet including a bottom wall 11, a frontwall 12, a back wall 13, and a top wall 14. The cabinet may also have'an upper appearance Wall 15, mounted over the top wall 14 and a frontappearance wall 16, covering at least a portion of the front wall 12.Within the cabinet there is provided a wash chamber 17 formed by agenerally horizontally disposed cylindrical wall 18 and a generallyvertically disposed front wall 19 joined around their peripheries andconfining therebetween a water tight gasket 20. The rear of thecylindrical wall 18 is formed as a rear Wall 21 for the chamber. Thechamber 17 is supported within the cabinet by means of a plurality ofsprings 22 which are attached at their upper end to the top wall 14 ofthe cabinet and at their lower end to brackets 23 which are, in turn,attached to the chamber 17 by some suitable means such as welding. Inthe machine illustrated, four springs may be provided with one adjacentthe front and one adjacent the rear of the cylindrical wall 18 on eachside of the chamber 17.

A fabric receiving drum 24 is mounted within the wash chamber andincludes a perforated, cylindrical side wall 25 joined at its front to agenerally vertical front wall 26. A rear wall (not shown) is providedfor the drum in a manner similar to the rear wall 21 of the chamber 17.A shaft 27 is firmly attached to the rear wall of the drum and extendsthrough an appropriate opening in the rear wall 21 of the wash chamber,with a water tight seal and bearing arrangement supporting the shaft inthe wall 21. Outside the wall 21 a pulley 28 is mounted on the shaft, indriving relation thereto. Thus, the drum is mounted for rotation about agenerally horizontal axis within the chamber 17. The side wall 25 of thedrum is provided with a number of baflies 29 so that, as the drumrotates, the battles will lift fabrics from the lower portion of thedrum to the upper portion and then allow them to fall back toward thebottom of the drum.

In order to effect this rotation of the drum, a motor 30 is suspendedfrom the lower portion of the chamber 17 by strap members 31 andincludes a drive shaft 32 connected to a suitable pulley 33. A belt 34extends around the pulleys 33 and 28 so that the motor is drivinglyconnected to the shaft 27 and thus to the drum. Therefore, when motor 30is energized it will cause the drum 24 to rotate on a generallyhorizontal axis within the wash chamber 17, with the relative diametersof pulleys 33 and 28 and the speed of the motor 30 determining the speedof rotation of the drum.

A suitable conduit 35 is provided for connection to a source of fluid,such as the usual domestic water supply. The conduit 35 is connected toa solenoid operated valve 36 so that, when the valve is energized, wateris allowed to pass from the conduit 35 and when the valve is deenergizedthe flow of water is interrupted. A second conduit 37 connects the valve36 to the wash chamber 17 so that, when the solenoid valve 36 isenergized, fluid from the supply source passes through the valve to theinterior of the wash chamber 17.

In order to drain the vitiated fluid from the machine- 3 chamber 17 and,at the other end, to a suitable fluid pump 39. The other side of thepump 39 is connected to a drain conduit 40 to connect the machine tosome suitable drain (not shown).

The front appearance wall 16, the front wall 12 of the cabinet, thevertical front wall 19 of the wash chamber 17 and the vertical frontwall 26 of the drum 24 define a series of axially aligned aperturesforming an access opening, generally indicated by the numeral 41,through which fabrics may be inserted and removed from the drum. Atubular, water tight diaphragm member 42 is connected at its other endto the edge 43 of the appearance Wall 16 and at its inner end to theedge 44 of the vertical wall 19. This closes the interior of the cabinetand the space between the front wall of the cabinet and the frontappearance wall to prevent any wash fluid getting into these spaces. Thefront of the access opening 41 is closed by a door generally indicatedby the numeral 45. The door includes an outer portion 46, which carriesa gasket or sealing member 47. When the door is closed, the gasketmember 47 is brought into water tight contact with the outer edge of thediaphragm 42. An inner door member 48 is carried by the outer doormember and is sealed around its edge by the gasket 47. The inner doormember 48 extends completely across the opening 41 and is water tight.Thus, with the door closed, a water tight housing is provided for thewashing fluid. The wash chamber 17 provides the housing with thediaphragm 42 and door 45 cooperating with the wash chamber to seal theaccess opening.

The inner door member 48 is generally cup-like in shape, extending intothe opening 41. The inner door member includes two portions; the firstone 49 extends part of the way down from the top of the opening and thenis recessed or offset at about the midportion of the door beforecontinuing downwardly to the bottom of the door. A second portion 50extends across the recess in the first portion. The portions 49 and 50define a channel 51 having an inlet opening 52 at about the midpoint ofthe door and an outlet opening 53 at the bottom of the door. A filtermember 54 is supported by the wall portions within this channel 51.

The door has been described as providing the inlet opening 52 at aboutthe midpoint of the door, in a vertical direction. The inlet opening canbe placed at many points on the door. The midpoint is preferable so thatthe inlet may be horizontally elongated to allow more fluid to enter thechannel. All that is required, however, is that the inlet opening 52 beabove the normal level of fluid within the machine.

With the machine thus far described, when fabrics are to be washed, thedoor 45 is opened and the fabrics and a suitable cleansing agent, suchas a detergent, are inserted through the access opening 41. The doorthen is closed and the solenoid valve 36 is energized to provide for theentry of a suitable amount of water. In machines of this type the amountof Water is controlled so as to form a pool in the bottom of the washchamber and drum. This pool normally being at some level below themidpoint of the access door, very often being only about to the level ofthe bottom of opening 41. Such a level is provided because an integralportion of the washing action results from the fabrics falling from thebaffles 29 and impacting on the surface of the pool of fluid. Thus, themachine must be provided with a suflicient amount of fluid to provide abath for the fabrics and, at the same time, to provide as great adistance as possible for the fabrics to fall within the machine as thedrum 24 rotates.

After the proper amount of fluid has been added to the chamber .17, themotor 30 is energized to rotate the drum 24. As the drum rotates thebaffles 29 force the fabrics through the pool of cleaning fluid and liftthem up out of the pool toward the top of the drum. As the bafliesapproach the top of the drum, the fabrics slide from the baffles andfall back toward the bottom of the drum. They impart on the surface ofthe pool and again become immersed in the pool of fluid.

This rotation of the drum, with its attendant movement of the bafllesand fabrics causes the pool of liquid to be agitated and a portion ofthe liquid to splash against the inner surface of the door. Asubstantial part of the fluid which impacts the door portion 49 abovethe inlet opening 52 will run into the opening, as will any waterdirectly entering the opening. This fluid then passes through the filter54, and then through the remainder of conduit 51 and out the outlet 53.Thus, all during the washing operation, fluid passes through the filterand is cleansed. At the end of the washing operation the motor 30 isde-energized and the pump 39 is energized to remove the washing fluidfrom the wash chamber through the outlet conduit 38 and discharge itthrough the drain conduit 40.

A second operation normally is provided, but with clear water, to rinsethe fabrics. The same filtering action will take place during the rinseoperation. At the conclusion of the rinse operation, the motor isenergized at a higher speed to rotate the drum 24 at a speed suflicientto plaster the fabrics against the cylindrical side wall 25 and removeexcess fluid by centrifugal action. The drain pump 39 is energizedcurrently to remove this fluid from the machine.

At the end of the centrifugal extraction operation, when the door isopened for removal of the fabrics, the filter 54 can be easily cleanedby the user. To this end the inlet opening 52 may be made large enoughfor the user to reach in and remove any lint and other material which'has been caught on the filter or the filter may be constructed andmounted so as to be manually removable from the door for cleaning andthen reinsertion.

The structure as thus far described provides an inexpensive, easilycleaned filter arrangement for use in a tumble type washing machine.This arrangement will pro vide satisfactory filtering in such machineswhen the load of fabrics is held to a relatively small amount incomparison to the overall size of the drum. It will be understood thatas the load of fabrics occupies an increasingly large percentage of thevolume of the drum the fabrics will tend more and more to damp out theagitation of the cleaning fluid. Thus, less fluid will be splashed upagainst the inner surface of the door and to be directed through thefilter. A number of modifications may be made to the machine to increasethe amount of fluid directed through the filter and thereby enhance thefiltering characteristics of this invention, particularly with largefabric loads.

Referring now to FIGURES 2 and 3 there is shown therein a modified doorstructure. The inner member 48a of this door includes an upper portion49a and a lower portion 50a defining a conduit 51a with an inlet 52a andan outlet 53a, in a manner similar to that of FIGURE 1. The filter 54may be mounted in the conduit 51a in the same manner as with the door ofFIGURE 1. The wall portion 49a, above the opening 52a is provided with aplurality of ribs 55 which are generally radial in nature so as morepositively to direct into the opening 52a the water impinging upon thisportion of the door. In this regard, the ribs either may project towardthe chamber 17 and drum 24 to provide dams which catch the fluid anddirect it to the opening 52a or they may project away from the chamberand drum to provide valleys that fill with water, which water then runsdownwardly to the opening 52a. In any event they positively direct thefluid to the opening 52a. It will be seen that the outlet opening 53a isformed as a plurality of slots 5319 which allow the fluid to exit fromthe channel 51a and, at the same time, prevent any fabrics from becomingjammed in the channel. In this regard, the opening 53 of FIGURE 1 couldbe formed in the same manner.

FIGURE 4 shows a modified form 26a of the front wall of the drum. Thewall 26a of FIGURE 4 is of the same general configuration and size asthe wall 26 of FIGURE 1. It will be noted from FIGURE 1 that the frontwall of the drum (26 or 26a), extends radially inwardly of the inneredge of the front wall 19 of the wash chamber 17. In wall 26a thisradially inwardly extending portion 56 has been modified so as toincrease the agitation of the washing fluid. The portion 56 iscorrugated so as to have alternate lands 57 and grooves 58, ascontrasted to the generally smooth configuration of the front wall 26.This corrugated effect will cause additional agitation of the wash fluidas the drum is rotated and, since the fabrics normally are retainedcompletely within the drum 24, this additional agitation will beprovided regardless of the relative fabric load size.

FIGURES 5 and 6 illustrate still another embodiment of this invention,which may be utilized to insure sutficient fluid movement through thefilter, regardless of the fabric load size in the machine. The machineof FIGURE 5 is very similar to that of FIGURE 1, differing only incertain details. The cabinet includes a top wall 60' and a front wall61, with access opening 62 in the front wall. The wash chamber includesa top wall 63 and a generally vertical front wall 64, having a lip 65defining an opening 66 in alignment with the opening 62. The drumincludes a perforated cylindrical wall 67 and a generally vertical frontwall '68, defining an access opening 69 in alignment with openings 62and 66. A door 70 is provided for closing the openings and includes anouter door section 71 and an inwardly extending inner section 72. Aresilient gasket or sealing member 73 extends from the lip 65 andengages the outer door section 71 when the door is closed, so as to forma seal and prevent the fluid from escaping from the wash chamber. Theinner section 72 of the door is recessed at its upper end and a pan-likefilter 73 is mounted in this recess. A catcher construction is mountedon the front wall 64 of the wash chamber. The catcher includes anelongated trough 74 and spigot 75 to direct any fluid received by thetrough into the filter 73.

The front wall 68 of the drumincludes a plurality of scoops 76 disposedangularly around the wall 68 to remove fluid from the pool and bring itto a point above the trough. There, the scoops release the fluid and itis caught by the trough and directed into the filter, flowing out of thefilter and back into the wash chamber and drum.

This hollow construction of the door enables it to substantially closethe opening 69 of the drum to prevent any fabrics accidentally fallingout of the drum during operation. The filter is mounted in a recess inthe top portion of the door so that fabrics will not catch on it. Thetrough arrangement bridges the gap between the filter and the scoops toinsure that essentially all the fluid released by the scoops enters thefilter.

As best shown in FIGURE 6 each of the scoops is formed by a generallyH-shaped member 77 which extends outwardly from the front wall 68 of thedrum and is closed by a cover 78. Thus, each of the members 77 andcovers 78 cooperate with the drum front wall 68 to form a pair ofoppositely disposed buckets 79 and 80 with two adjacent bucketscomprising each of the scoops 76. This arrangement is desirable sincetumble type washing machines often are constructed so that the drum isreversible in direction of rotation. Thus, regardless of the directionof rotation of the drum, one of the buckets of each scoop will beeffective to pick up fluid from the fluid pool and release it above thetrough for subsequent flow through the filter. With the arrangement ofFIG- URES 5 and 6 it will be evident that essentially the same amount offluid will be directed through the filter for any washing cycle,regardless of the size of the load of fabrics within the drum.

The foregoing is a description of the illustrative embodiments of theinvention and it is aplicants intention in the appended claims to coverall forms which fall within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent ofthe United States is:

1. A fabric washing machine having a wash chamber adapted to containfabric washing fluid, a perforated rotatable drum mounted on a generallyhorizontal axis and adapted to contain fabrics to be washed, said drumbeing mounted in said wash chamber, said wash chamber having an openingwith a door adapted to close the opening, and filter means mounted onsaid door and positioned so as to receive and filter washing fluiddirected through said filter means solely by rotation of said drum.

2. A fabric washing machine according to claim 1, wherein said drum hasan opening therein, said door, with said filter, being positioned toprovide access to said drum opening.

3. A fabric washing machine having a wash chamber adapted to containfabric washing fluid; a perforated drum adapted to receive fabrics to bewashed, said drum being mounted for rotation on a generally horizontalaxis within said chamber; said chamber and said drum having aligned,generally vertical access openings; a door adapted to close saidopenings; and a filter mounted on said door so as to filter fluidagitated by rotation of said drum.

4. A fabric washing machine as set forth in claim 3, wherein: said dooris of hollow construction; said filter is mounted within said door; theinner surface of said door defines a first horizontally elongatedopening for fluid ingress to said opening and a second opening foregress of fluid from said filter.

5. A fabric washing machine as set forth in claim 4, wherein: said firstopening is disposed substantially below the top of said door and theportion of said inner surface above said first opening is provided withribs for directing fluid to said first opening.

6. A fabric washing machine as set forth in claim 3, wherein: saidchamber includes a generally vertical end wall defining the accessopening therethrough and said drum including a generally vertical walldefining the access opening therethrough; said end wall of said drumincluding a portion extending radially inward of said end wall of saidchamber; said portion being corrugated to agitate the fluid in thevicinity of said door.

7. A fabric washing machine as set forth in claim 3, wherein: said drumincludes a generally vertical end wall; said end wall including aplurality of angularly spaced scoops adapted to lift fluid above thedoor and then release it for ingress to said filter.

8. A fabric washing machine as set forth in claim 7, wherein: said dooris of hollow construction; said filter is mounted in the upper portionof said door and includes an inlet opening through the top thereof; anda trough arrangement is provided above and inwardly of said door tocatch fluid released by said scoops and direct it to said inlet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS WILLIAM I. PRICE, PrimaryExaminer.

